Ad copy monitoring is the process of tracking and analyzing the messaging used in your (and your competitors’) ad campaigns. By studying headlines, calls to action, offers, and other copy, you can better understand what clicks with your target audience and identify opportunities to stand out.
Ad copy has a significant impact on conversions. For instance, a study from Unbounce monitored over 30,000 landing pages and determined that copy has twice as much impact on conversion rate as landing page design. Careful monitoring can help you tailor your copywriting to drive more sales.
Read on for a deeper look at why ad copy monitoring matters, how to evaluate and improve your advertising copy, and which tools can help you track competitors, uncovering new opportunities for stronger-performing campaigns.
What is ad copy monitoring?
Ad copy monitoring is the process of tracking the performance of ad campaigns to find opportunities for your brand’s ad copy to stand out. This can include monitoring messaging on Google Ads, social media ads on sites like Facebook and YouTube, and other campaigns out in the world.
Ad copy monitoring examines the effectiveness of headlines, body copy, and calls to action, looking specifically at factors such as voice, tone, visual hierarchy, and persuasion techniques.
Tools to monitor ad copy
Whether you have the budget for a paid tool to monitorads or you’re looking for something easy and free, there are plenty of options out there to help you see what drives sales for your competitors:
Meta Ad Library
The Meta Ad Library is a searchable database of current and previous examples of ads running across Meta’s platforms—including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
It has a simple search bar and the option to filter results by language, platform, media type, whether the ad is active or a past campaign, and time frame, to help you research various messages.
By exploring results for different filters, you can see how other brands use the messaging that accompanies images and video. Each ad also links to an ecommerce landing page, so you can see how the ad copy aligns with the product detail copy.
Pricing: Free.
Google Ads
The Google Ads Transparency Center allows you to search by company and sort by the following details: formats, time frames, and different Google platforms, like Maps and Google Shopping.
When you click on an ad, you’ll see all of this information and can click through variations to see how the ad text changes in each version.
The Google Ads Transparency Center helps you gain visibility into search advertising strategy. It helps marketers identify recurring themes, compare ad variations, and observe how brands adapt their messaging across different Google properties and customer intents.
Pricing: Free with a verified Google account.
TikTok Ad Library
The TikTok Ad Library allows you to search by keywords and brands and filter by criteria including country, industry, ad objective (such as video views or reach), and even how many likes an ad got (filter by the top 1% to 10%, for example).
When you click on a TikTok ad, you can access metrics including comments, shares, and its click-through rate.
For videos with scripts, TikTok automatically transcribes the video, so you can see the exact copy. Each ad also links to a landing page, so you can see how the ad copy aligns with the product detail copy.
Pricing: Free.
Semrush Ads History
If you’re running Google Search Ads, Semrush provides useful tools. You can type in a keyword and see an entire list of domains that placed bids on that keyword. Plus, you can see ad traffic, price, and the number of adscompetitor domains ran.
This information can give you a better understanding of what competitors are bidding on and if there are keywords they’ve overlooked you can use. Semrush’s key strength is its ability to connect ad copy monitoring with keyword strategy for PPC optimization.
Pricing: Plans start at $140 per month.
BigSpy
Rather than visiting each social platform individually to gain insights, you could use a platform like BigSpy that monitors nine major platforms at once.
It has a huge database of ads, allowing you to search more than one billion ads across platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can see detailed information about each ad, including impressions, specs, format, and dates the campaign ran.
BigSpy can also help you ideate new ads by creating a word cloud to reveal the most common keywords related to your product or category. Understanding the data BigSpy delivers can help you refine your own creative ideas, uncover emerging trends, and improve your ad targeting for a better return on investment (ROI).
Pricing: Plans start at $9 per month.
Strategies to enhance your ad copy
- Use AI tools to assess ad copy effectiveness
- Use ad libraries and trendspotting tools
- Tailor your copy to specific audience segments
- Use A/B testing to compare ad copy
Monitoring ad copy helps you improve your ability to convert through the power of the written word. Here are approaches you can use:
Use AI tools to assess ad copy effectiveness
Instead of manually reviewing dozens of competitor ads, use tools like OpenAI’s Deep Research (or similar AI research assistants) to synthesize market trends.
Andrew Faris, founder of AJF Growth, recommends providing the AI with information about your business, your competitors, and examples of ads that appear to be performing well.
“You say, ‘Here’s what I know so far about which ads are working; what can you tell me?’” Andrew says on Shopify Masters. “Within five minutes, it’ll give you a 10-page report. It’s insane.”
The tool can generate reports on likely customer motivations, messaging gaps, positioning opportunities, and recurring themes across your market.
Once you’ve collected those insights, an AI ad copy generator can help brainstorm headline variations, hooks, and calls to action to test in your own campaigns.
Use ad libraries and trendspotting tools
Build a habit of regularly researching how other brands are positioning similar products.
Nima Jalali, founder of deodorant and body wash company Salt and Stone, says on Shopify Masters that entrepreneurs should study the highest-performing brands in their sector, particularly the “bigger guys who have the budgets to figure things out.”
Using their strategies as a blueprint can help you ensure your own ads are “as strong or stronger than the best that are doing it right now.”
Platforms like the Meta Ad Library and TikTok Ad Library let you search competitor ads by brand, keyword, campaign objective, or timeframe, making it easier to spot recurring themes before they become industry clichés.
Pair this with Google Trends to see whether interest in certain topics or search terms is growing, plateauing, or declining.
The goal is to understand the market’s direction and identify opportunities to differentiate your brand. Reviewing competitor ads alongside broader search trends helps you decide whether to lean into an emerging customer priority or carve out a distinct position before a trend becomes oversaturated.
Tailor your copy to specific audience segments
Not every customer responds to the same message. Someone discovering your brand likely needs education and reassurance. Alternatively, strategies to earn repeat customers might focus on loyalty rewards, product upgrades, or new arrivals.
Creating separate messaging for different audience segments can make your ads more relevant and improve their performance.
Tools like Shopify Audiences can help you identify high-intent customer segments for advertising campaigns, making it easier to match your copy to the people you’re trying to reach.
Pair this with Shopify Segmentation, which lets you analyze your existing customer base based on characteristics like purchase history, location, order value, or buying behavior. Those micro-segmentation marketing insights can help determine benefits most likely to connect with each group.
Use A/B testing to compare ad copy
Instead of rewriting an entire campaign based on competitor research, isolate a single element—like your headline, value proposition, CTA, or promotional offer—and compare it against a control version.
This is how A/B testing works: By changing only one variable at a time, you can attribute performance differences to the copy itself instead of wondering whether multiple changes influenced the results.
Resist the urge to test everything at once. For example, if you’re comparing two headlines, keep the creative, audience, budget, and landing page copy and design identical.
Once you’ve identified a winning headline, test another element, like your call to action, or product description. This incremental approach produces cleaner data and makes it easier to build on each success.
Competitor ads can help you generate hypotheses, but A/B testing tells you what actually works for your audience. A phrase that performs well for another brand may fall flat with your customers, while a unique angle could significantly outperform industry norms.
Treat each campaign as an experiment, using the results to refine future ads and create a repeatable process.
Monitor ad copy FAQ
What is display copy in advertising?
Display copy is the text brands use in digital advertisements. It appears alongside visual elements in formats such as banner ads, social media ads, video ads, and sponsored content, and typically includes headlines, body copy, and calls to action.
How do you write display ad copy?
Writing good ad copy involves knowing your audience and their preferences. Highlight key benefits that tie back to customer needs or solve customer pain points.
Use clear, concise messaging that avoids mixing too many ideas together. Apps like Shopify Sidekick can help you automate the process of writing catchy, convertible ad copy.
How do you monitor ad copy?
There are many free and paid tools you can use to observe what your competitors are doing. Free tools include the TikTok Ad Library, Google Transparency Center, and Meta’s Ads Library. Paid tools include Semrush Ads History and BigSpy.
Semrush also provides SEO insights, such as data on keywords and backlinks, while BigSpy allows you to observe campaigns across many platforms at once.
